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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25015843">"no one needs to know, right?"</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0nt_t0uch_m3/pseuds/d0nt_t0uch_m3'>d0nt_t0uch_m3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Whumptober 2018, Whumptober 2019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:20:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25015843</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0nt_t0uch_m3/pseuds/d0nt_t0uch_m3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill for the whumptober prompts insomnia and numb from 2018 and 2019.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>"no one needs to know, right?"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harley looks up when he hears the door open. It's Jamie. The boy is always early and when Harley noticed, he started coming even earlier. Not because he has a crush on the boy. Not at all. He's not gay, but there's nothing wrong with being attracted to a person with the same gender, right? </p><p>Harley studies Jamie for a second, still amazed at how good the boy looks, even this early. The only thing that makes Harley frown, are the black circles under the black-haired's eyes. Harley follows Jamie with his eyes and sees him knock into seemingly every chair and table on the way to his seat, not even batting an eye at it. Harley clears his throat noisily, trying to get the elder's attention. Jamie looks up in confusion before his eyes meet Harley's. Jamie's eyes are glazed over and he doesn't seem to really be there. </p><p>"Are you okay?" Harley asks carefully. Jamie needs about a minute to comprehend the question and when he does, he just nods. Harley just eyes him in disbelief. </p><p>"Are you sure?" he presses, worry tinting his voice. "You do seem to be a bit out of it," he adds as an explanation. Jamie clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable. </p><p>"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep very well the past few nights," he replies, fiddling with the hem of his shirt while talking. Harley just nods, still not quite believing the smaller boy. They fall silent again, Harley shifting in his seat every now and then while Jamie just blankly stares ahead. After a few minutes, Harley finally musters up the courage to ask the question he's wanted to ask for the past few weeks. </p><p>"Can I sit with you?" he asks, holding his breath as he waits for an answer. When he gets none, he frowns. </p><p>"Jamie?" he asks hesitatingly. The older one, who seems to have nodded of, snaps his head up and turns around. He's blinking rapidly, as if trying to blink the haziness away. </p><p>"What did you say?" he asks with an apologizing expression on his face. Harley blushes. </p><p>"Doesn't matter," he mumbles, not being able to repeat the question now that the black-haired boy is looking right at him. Jamie sits up a bit straighter, devoting Harley all of his attention, and pouts slightly. </p><p>"Please?" he begs, opening his eyes wide, which makes him look like a little puppy. Harley can't help but smile. He takes a deep breath before repeating his question. Jamie gives him a soft smile and nods.</p><p>"Sure. Do you want me to come to the back or do you want to come here?" he gives back. Harley exhales relieved. </p><p>"I'll come to you," he answers when he remembers how Jamie ran into everything on the way to his seat. He can feel Jamie watching him while he packs up his stuff and makes his way over to the green-eyed boy before finally flopping down in the seat beside Jamie. From close up, the boy looks even more tired; eyes just half open with dark circles under them, the black curls framing his face in an incredibly pretty way but making his skin look even paler than it already is. Harley bites his lower lip but doesn't say anything about it again. </p><p>They keep a quiet conversation about this and that while the other students slowly start to trickle in until the teacher comes in. He starts teaching right away, calling on students without a warning. Harley has to nudge Jamie several times throughout the lesson, every time Mr. Lewis calls him up. Then, near the end of the lesson, Jamie nods off for the fifth time and Harley has enough. He raises his hand. </p><p>"Mr. Parker," Mr. Lewis says, nearly immediately. Harley looks at Jamie again before speaking. </p><p>"Jamie isn't feeling too hot, so I wanted to ask if I could bring him to the nurse's office, Sir," he explains, Jamie peaking up at the mentioning of his name. Mr. Lewis eyes the pale boy beside Harley for a second before he nods. </p><p>"Of course, Mr. Parker. You can stay with him until the end of the lesson, if necessary," Mr. Lewis says. Harley smiles and carefully helps the dazed looking Jamie up. Luckily the other students are all working on an exercise that the teacher gave to them a few minutes ago. </p><p>"Thank you, Sir," he says, maneuvering Jamie between the tables and to the door. </p><p>"Get well soon, Mr. Hale," is the last thing Harley hears before the door closes after them. As soon as they are standing alone in the empty hallway, Jamie sacks against Harley, putting all of his weight on the lanky and tall boy. Harley holds him up with ease. </p><p>"Jamie? What's going on?" he asks softly while pulling Jamie towards the school's nurse's office. </p><p>"Just tired," Jamie responds. Harley can hear him slur his words a bit, which makes him sound slightly drunk. </p><p>"Are you sure about that? You seem really out of it," Harley says, trying to keep Jamie talking while his brow is furrowed in worry. Jamie sighs. </p><p>"My parents have been fighting a lot lately and I can't seem to sleep when they do. I haven't slept more than a few hours every night for the past month or so. At this point I'm just feeling numb," Jamie explains, sounding slightly more awake. Harley nods in understanding. He knows exactly what the older one is talking about. A couple years back, his parents used to fight all the time as well. They got a divorce just a bit later and are now living separately. Not that that is how it has to end. </p><p>"I might have a solution for you. It's easy, really, and it helped me a lot," he says softly, just as they reach the nurse's office. </p><p>"And what is that?" Jamie asks hopefully while Harley helps him sitting down on the cot in the currently empty office. Harley smiles and tugs a loose black curl behind Jamie's ear. </p><p>"Headphones and music," he says, right before the nurse comes in. </p><p>"Hello Mr. Parker, Mr. Hale. How can I help the two of you?" she greets, smiling sweetly at the boys. Both of them often volunteer to help out after school, which sometimes includes cleaning up the nurses office. Harley gives her his blinding smile. </p><p>"Jamie hasn't slept very well in a few weeks, so I thought maybe he could try resting here for a bit," Harley explains. Ms. Pierce smiles back. </p><p>"That's no problem. You can both stay, if you're allowed to," she responds, the last part mostly directed towards Harley. Harley smiles again before he says: "Yeah, I'll stay. Mr. Lewis is really cool when it comes to stuff like this." Ms. Pierce just nods. </p><p>"I'll leave you two to it then," she adds and leaves the room again. Jamie, who had been staring at his lap, looks up now. </p><p>"Do you really think the music would help?" he asks, a hopeful look in his eyes. Harley's heart melts. </p><p>"Yes, I do. At least, it did help me a lot when my parents were fighting a lot a few years back," he explains, keeping his voice light. Jamie sighs. </p><p>"I don't have any headphones. My parents don't like me very much and we don't have too much money either," his eyes falling to his lap again. Harley, who is pretty sure he can feel his heart breaking, bites his lower lip, thinking of something to solve the problem. After a few seconds he ha an idea. He takes out his own headphones. </p><p>"You can use these. They are mine but they where fairly cheap so you can have them. I'll just get myself new ones later," he holds the headphones out to Jamie for him to take them and gives the older boy a bright smile. Jamie reaches for them but stops mid motion. </p><p>"Are you sure? I don't want to take them when you need them," he mumbles. Harley shoves the headphones into Jamie's hands while rolling his eyes jokingly. </p><p>"C'mon, take them. I'll survive being on the bus without music for once in my life," he says. Jamie beams at him. </p><p>"Thank you," he whispers quietly. Harley smiles. </p><p>"Not a problem. I'll leave you to rest now, okay?" he asks, turning around, ready to get back to class. </p><p>"Wait!" He turns back to face Jamie. The boy blushes. </p><p>"Could you...maybe...you know, stay...until I've fallen asleep?" The blush deepens. Harley chuckles quietly before settling down in the chair beside the cot. </p><p>"Sure, no problem," he says, the smile still on his face. Jamie gives him a content smile in return, which makes Harley's heart flutter, falling asleep just mere minutes later. </p><p>And if Harley stays, even when the bell rings, well, no one needs to know, right?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is not that long, as are all of my stories but I would be really happy about some feedback or criticism. I hope you enjoyed.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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